Pouliot, Pyatt, Picard aren’t qualified

Benoit Pouliot, Alexandre Picard and Tom Pyatt are no longer in the Canadiens plans. None of them was tendered a qualifying offer as of the 5 p.m. deadline on Monday, which means they become unrestricted free agents on July 1.

The Canadiens other restricted free agents – Yannick Webber, Ryan White and Josh Gorges – did receive qualifying offers, but could still sign long-term contracts with the team before the season.

NHL teams had until 5 p.m. to tender qualifying offers to restricted free agents in order to retain their rights.

That was a great trade for both teams, Kings got cap space, traded a player they didn’t want, EDM gets a vet to be around the young players whos cap hit is 6M+ but is paid only 4.5…If your going to bash Dean Lombardi it should be for the Penner traded(beyond horrible).

Smyth also asked/demanded that he go back to Edmonton which sort of handcuffed the Kings from getting anything better. They don’t want to take salary back, but the pick should have been much better than a 7th rounder.

He got time on the first line and on the PP. On paper, getting a former first round pick for leaden spare part Latendresse was a great deal. It didn’t work out because Pouliot is broken in the head, his own biggest stumbling block.

I like Pouliot and hope the team retains him, though chances are slight at this point. But I sure can’t agree he did not get a fair shot. Look what DD, Eller and others have done – heck, even White – with less opportunity.

It’s a tough calling. The door opens slightly and if you can’t or don’t step through it opens for someone else.

Obviously, HabsRepresente you haven’t been wacthing his play for the last two seasons. Not given a chance???? He was placed on every possible line and he still couldn’t keep himself upright and in the game.

Traded Lats for nothing.
Traded S Kostitsyn for nothing.
Traded for Moore, let him go for nothing.
Lost Ryan MacDonagh, got a problem in return.
Let go of Boucher, now Muller.

Asset management makes or breaks a team. How can you guys not see collectively this is a lot of waste of talent? I know that some people on here need to believe everyone we let go is useless, but wake up to reality. Every team makes mistakes, let go of the wrong guy now and then. But the last couple of years the Habs have made a habit of it. Most because they are “problem” players. Has Grabovski been a problem in Toronto? How about Dagostini? Who did more with less ice time than Cammalleri this year?

JM and PG are purging this team of anyone who doesn’t fit a certain model and arrogantly letting a lot of talent at both the on ice and coaching level walk away.

If I give a specific answer you’ll argue why they shouldn’t or couldn’t have. My point is that the Habs bleed talent. Look at the cup final – 2 former Habs coaches. Semi-finals – 3 former habs coaches. Laps is now a valuable part of the league’s best team.

The Habs have done some things right obviously. But we look to me like an “also ran” for years to come. We’re the home of “almost”, led by Jacques Martin, poster boy for playoff mediocrity.

Jacques Martin, forever to be cursed as the man who blew the playoff chances of the Ottawa Senators in the first half of the last decade, due to his inability to coach Patrick Lalime to have a modicum of talent at stopping a puck when it mattered. Please, Roy, Brodeur, Belfour, Hasek were the legends of that era and he’s supposed to make do with Lalime?

It’s the most garbage assessment of JM’s talent he is forced to take the blame for trying to get by with a guy who can’t even carry Theodore’s jock.

SF09 – I think Martin has lots of very good qualities as a coach. Communicating with young players, especially if they’re having difficulty adjusting to the NHL, isn’t one of them. It’s just impossible to ignore the fact that he scapegoats players, and dashes their confidence, especially young ones.

When does JM scapegoat players? When does he even mention names of guys he’s disappointed in?

If Pouliot is benched it’s because he’s such a headcase he can’t skate without falling down. If Lats was benched, it was because it was debatable in his final season here if he had a pulse. SK wasn’t exactly his best work but even Barry Trotz in NSH can’t get anything out of that punk when the heat is on.

Are you kidding? You haven’t noticed his ‘Make one mistake – get benched for the rest of the game’ approach? Eller, MaxPac, O’Byrne, Lats, Pouliot, etc … all experienced it. Did you notice how he actually benched PK Subban, hands down our best non-goalie this year, for three games after he made a few mistakes. PK had enough gumption to come back stronger, but not everyone does.

so its martin, the coach, who is at fault if his players dont respond to being benched?

benching players is part of a coaches job and players that are broken up over such decisions at this level i dont care much for… i know you didnt say this habsfan so i wont put words into your mouth, but coddling players only adds to the pussification of the habs

Subban was benched b/c he was thinking too much like he did when he played for the Belleville Bulls, wild offensive rushes to win the game without thinking about play in his own end.

Lats got benched because he has no pulse to go with his poutine-based weight. Pouliot sits on the bench because in the NHL, you can’t play a guy who will fall down without warning for no reason really, not if you don’t want to put your team in bad situations. You were hardly a fan of OB either, let’s not forget he was hardly effective in the last two years if Markov wasn’t carrying him. Eller got *gasp* limited ice time, like a lot of rookies do, became a regular by the end of the season though. Pacioretty, he just wasn’t ready until he returned from the AHL for the last time this past year.

Robert. Your reference to Subban while he was with the Belleville Bulls is complete garbage. You either got bad information from somebody or are just talking out of your ass to justify the benching.

PK rushed the puck up the ice at even strength with Belleville about twice per game, maybe. I saw probably around 60 of his junior games with Belleville and can’t remember a time where he lost the puck on the rush.

Lats was a problem player, dealt for a problem player. At present, there’s no evidence that heartless, petulant fat career underperformer acutally shapes into an NHL player.

Agree, Sergei was lost for practically nothing, albeit he also did practically nothing for Nashville in the post-season, making one wonder about his commitment level. Moore, agree, a 2nd was a bad price to pay on him.

D’Agostini was not qualified by St. Louis and another team may pick him off for free.

Was PG supposed to fire Jacques Martin after an ECF appearance? Tell Boucher to ‘hang in there for 3 more years and maybe you’ll get the job up top?” No way in hell does he take that when he can move to the NHL level and get on the next stage of his career. Muller was offered HC of Hamilton last year, he didn’t take that either. He wanted to go outside the organization it appears.

Grabovski has not been a problem in Toronto, but mostly because he has absolutely no challenge to his centre position on that team. With no challenge, his ego is secure and he plays with ice time he wouldn’t get on most teams with proper C depth. Well that and that team is good at assembling self-important egomaniacs who perform when there’s no challenge to their status. Phaneuf finally playing well was conveniently in line with Beauchemain and Kaberle being shipped out so he had no challenges to his authority.

Was D’Agostini injured this year? No and a bad shoulder on a goal-scorer is not a great way to a productive season. Oh yes and Cammalleri is the most efficient points producer the Canadiens have had in the post-season since the early 90s squad.

amen… wow someone who actually considers each individual player’s/coach’s situation at the point when they left, or were traded, or were dumped.

not just look back at them, with rose-colored glasses, as some big group of budding superstars.

careful Robert there’s not much room on here for people in touch with the reality of the situation(s).

only in the Habs organization would so many fans get up in arms over letting mostly 3rd and 4th line players walk.

Grabovski is the one guy with a legitimate case for being a real threat, but that’s playing on a non-playoff team that has absolutely zero depth down the middle. (and we got a 2nd & 5th round pick for him)

I can’t wait for someone to chime in and say Segei Kostitsyn is a top 6 forward that could be a part of a championship team, just because it’s so funny how ridiculous that sounds. But hey, I’ll guess we’ll see how valuable he is to Nashville when they give him that big contract any legit top 6 forward deserves(lol)

I agree with most of what you say, for the most part none of the guys listed was or was going to be an important part of a SC contender in Montreal. The only one that in hindsight PG probably should have kept was Moore, and not because he gave up a 2nd round pick to get him. Moore made a significant contribution to the Habs Conference Final play-off run and his replacement likely didn’t save the Habs much cap space. In the end Moore plus a couple hundred thousand extra probably equals more than Halpern, and that’s really the trade-off. The bonus is that people wouldn’t be moaning about the draft pick any more.

You make it sound like these three players are future Hall of Famers. These are all interchangeable parts. Everybody is replacable, some moreso than others. The three players you list off the top are pretty close to the top of that list.

D’Agostini – the guy soooooo integral to the future success of the St. Louis Blues that they didn’t even send him a qualifying offer yesterday.

I’ll try to stay level headed here – you do realize asset management includes guys coming and going right? If the Habs kept all the guys you mention and didn’t sign Gionta and Cammy and Pleks would you be happy? How about Sanford as the starting goalie?

Wow. You’re blowing a whole lot of smoke for nothing.
Latendresse = bum
S Kostitsyn = bum
Moore = insignificant
MacDonaugh = overrated
Boucher/Muller = sad to see them leave but both need more professional coaching experience before taking over the reigns of the Canadiens. It’s only natural to see them going elsewhere to learn the trade. We’ll most likely see one of them behind the Habs bench one day.

Guys, it’s unlikely Pouliot will ever reach his potential consistently — he’s a talented head case. Everything’s gotta be right for him to perform: his teammates; the seasons; expectations (not too high, but bot too low either). Unfortunately, finding that happy spot isn’t all that easy. Temmates get injured. Lines get shuffled. The seasons change.

Giving another season to guy who may … or may not … show up? Zzzzzzzzz.

As for myself I figure a Barry Trotz kind of Coach is what’s really needed on the Habs and then all will fall into place.Then start sizing up the team cause the Trotz can make hotz! Pouloit on Nashville would score 40 goals.

Picard can be easily replaced by Diaz or Nash or even Paul Mara. Pyatt tried hard and put in two ok years but hasnt shown the ability to stick around and be a full time player.

Im not sure Pouliot is done with the Habs and could be resigned at less than a mill. I dont see teams lining up to sign him.

The habs were eliminated 1st round. We cant expect or want Gauthier to return exactly the same team. Nor can we expect that our castoffs are anything more than that. There really is no market for our unwanted players. There is no mgr willing to dump 3rd round picks on throwaways.

Outside of PK, Price, Maxpac and Pleks we have few assets that other teams want.

I’m guessing nobody wanted these guys otherwise they would have been traded. Season ended a while ago and the team probably decided on who they were going to keep and who they’d let go at that time. No point in us getting mad now. We’re wasting our energy. I’m going to be grateful that the team is still looking like a contender for the playoffs. If we were to ship off some really important player like Subban I wonder what would happen around here. We should just let Pierre Gauthier make some news in the coming week and then debate stuff to death. Free agent frenzy only occurs once this summer. Might as well enjoy it.

I think some people forget that players still can be signed by the same club even without being qualified, Pouliot indeed wasn’t qualified last year too and he signed 1 year deal with the Habs before July 1st. It’s only until July 1st that he’ll be UFA.

So I see people saying PG is dumb for not trading a RFA, he can still signed and be traded the next day. So wait until July 1st and then we can say PG is useless for being able to trade Pouliot for picks.

“Responding to the media , or playing to the media, or listening to the fans is the quickest way to start losing” – Sam Pollock

“The Montreal Canadiens have made several changed in the last couple of years on the management side of things. Out are former Canadiens Guy Carbonneau, Bob Gainey and now Kirk Muller. In are former Senators Pierre Gauthier, Jacques Martin and Randy Conneyworth. So much for Habs tradition I guess.

But it’s the decisions made by this new management that catch the attention above all. While being dominated at just about every level on the ice, the Canadiens rode the tail of a hot goaltender (Halak) two years ago to give the impression that the team was heading in the right direction. Many fans bought into the idea and gave the Gauthier/Martin duo a blind vote of confidence. This past season, young superstars to be Carey Price and PK Subban made their coach and GM look good once again as without their amazing contribution, especially Molson Cup winner Price, the team would have been excluded from the playoffs.

The scariest thing about it is that the GM’s and coach’s track records aren’t very positive. Many players had a terrible season offensively. Many others have been given away, players who, under smothering coaching and unfair treatment towards young talented players, have found their niche and success elsewhere. Let’s look at it a bit closer if we may…

Gone are Ben Maxwell and a 4th round pick, and so are the two players we got in return: Nigel Dawes and Brent Sopel. That’s a four player swing!

Gone is the 2nd round pick that they gave up for Dominic Moore, who is also gone.

Gone is Sergei Kostitsyn (23G, 50 Pts) and so are Dustin Boyd and Dan Ellis, the players we got in return for him.

Guillaume Latendresse (28 goals since being traded) is gone and Gauthier didn’t see fit to qualify the player the Habs got in return: Benoit Pouliot.

Kari Ramo is amazing… in the KHL and we’ve given young goaltending prospect Cédrick Desjardins.

Maxim Lapierre, good enough for 3rd line duty for the Stanley Cup finals runner-up Vancouver Canucks, just re-signed a two-year deal with them. But we have Brett Festerling and a 5th to speak off.

Lars Eller is a good young prospect, while Ian Schultz may never make the NHL. Is that really enough for Jaroslav Halak?

Gone are a 2nd and a 5th round pick and it looks like so will James Wisniewski, another 3 player swing.

And that’s not counting the loss of Guy Boucher and Julien Brisebois who helped the Tampa Bay Lightning gain 23 points in the standings, going from 25th to 8th overall in the NHL! Habs got nothing in return.

And now, the reason for the team’s success on the PP in the last few years under Carbo and Martin, Kirk Muller, is also leaving the team… for nothing.

So let’s keep on praising the current management in place. Let’s keep on filling the Bell Centre, buying merchandize, hot dogs and $10 beer, while defending incompetence and poor decision making. Let’s look for more excuses to justify their bad decisions one by one. In the meantime, other more pro-active GM’s will make the necessary moves to improve, as did Peter Chiarelli and more recently Paul Holmgren! I’ll go as far as saying that it’s only a matter of time before Brian Burke’s Maple Leafs will do to the Montreal Senators what they did to Ottawa a few years back!”

C’mon man. We’re all Hab fans here and we all want what’s best for the team. But I just can’t help but make the parralels between this team and Ottawa’s “soft” teams that got demolished by the less talented but tougher Leafs.

Martin’s a good coach. Eventhough I don’t like a lot of the things he does, he’s still a solid coach. Gauthier though… I don’t know how anyone can feel good about having him as GM. He is not good and his track record (even before coming to the Habs) is AWFUL. And to think, he only has the job he has because he can speak french. This bothers me so much

Although I do think that this article is an unbalanced, over-exaggerated rant I will say that for a team that is so starved for size upfront is was disappointing to see Lapierre and Pouliot given up on so soon.

They gave up on Laps by not playing him regularly and giving him a diminished role. I thought Laps was finding a niche when Carbonneau had him killing penalties and taking a regular shift. I also forgot about O’Bryne (although Bornival does have some potential). Laps, Pouliot, and O’Bryne are all bigger players who could have helped against Boston. I know Pouliot was frustrating with his ill-timed penalties but he just didn’t seem to be used well. He was always bouncing around different linemates and when he seemed to have a bit of chemistry with some players Martin never seemed to exploit that by giving him linemate stability. Not every young player can excel in that kind of situation. Anyway just my opinion. I hope he finds his way back here next year.

“Brian Burke’s Maple Leafs” did what now? This is rich. You should should make the reference to the loss of Julien Brisebois part of your signature JayBee.
… In other news: If PG has decided not to re-sign Pyatt and Pouliot (IF!) maybe he’s actually planning to improve the team, and not just try to coast back into 6th place.

Oh you mean that shot by Horton that was deflected by Halpern trying to block the shot that Price lost the round? Dude, stop blaming Price, playoffs are over, move on and pretend to be GM. The Juice is right too.

“Responding to the media , or playing to the media, or listening to the fans is the quickest way to start losing” – Sam Pollock

Well I think what Bob Gainey actually plan to do after we got swept was to re-build but in Gainey’s words were but still to be able to make the playoffs.

We went with a brand new roster including that trade to get Gomez, but to stay in the current plan, some prospects weren’t intended with the new plan in set.

Usually to get a rental, a 2nd rounder is usually the trade value, look at Washington on Arnott.

Sergei was out of control with the Habs.

Not qualifying Pouliot doesn’t mean he won’t be re-signed to a 1 way contract.

Dags lost confidence last season and wasn’t producing at all with the Habs which kind of got us left outside of playoffs until he was traded.

Eller just completed his second year in pro and his 1st full season with the big club, SK took himself a while to produce the way he’s producing in Nashville.

Wiz was the same as the Arnott situation, you has to spend in order to get a substitute of Markov but still has until July 1st that he’ll be completely gone.

In order for PG to have good relationship and good history with staff, it’s good for the staff to get another opportunity somewhere else.
Don’t count put the PP yet when we still have PK and Markov in the back end.

Habs have been in the playoffs ever since Gainey completely changed the roster and I don’t think PG is doing anything to be considered mismanagement. In the words of Sam Pollock, read my sig
“Responding to the media , or playing to the media, or listening to the fans is the quickest way to start losing” – Sam Pollock

Habs have a history of getting rentals every year to plug holes that should not have been there to begin with.

Schneider
Moore
Wiz
Sopel

I mean, every year we’re giving up picks with absolutely no intention of keeping the players we get. That is just poor practice. It happens consistently.

Sergei didn’t make the team and Pyatt did. That was a headscratcher and I don’t blame him for taking exception to that.

SK doubled Eller’s point totals in less games in his 1st year. I don’t know what you’re talking about.

I don’t mind the Wiz trade, but I can guarantee you the Habs didn’t even make him an offer. This is what Montreal does now. So smug, so arrogant for a team that has gone past the 2nd round once in the last 18 years. You see it with how they deal with their impeding UFA’s to coaches (See Larry Robinson and Jacques Lemaire)… It just annoys me.

You’re right, the Habs have been in the playoffs the last few years but they have been fighting for the same 6-8th spot every year except for the 2008 season… Where’s the progression?

I’m being hard on PG and JM, but that’s how it goes. Yankee fans are unreasonably difficult, so are Cowboys fans and Lakers fans.. It comes with the territory when you are such a storied franchise.

You can clearly see SK points declined each year wit Habs, if that’s proof that his fit in Habs wasnt exactly a good fit. He did also refused to be sent down. It’s wasn’t exactly management’s fault, to develop and see other players in the system, management has make room for others.

If you’re implying management should keep everyone who puts up points, it doesn’t always happen, this normal around the league. There will always be like that in today’s cap world.

Every year, other teams that want to make playoff push, they have to give away picks to get some help but it’s not always the best way to get full productivity of the rental in such a short time to adjust to new players and system, especially the Montreal freeway.

I’m exactly trying to change your view but it’s just what I thought. All of us has different views and I can see your view is different and for that, I drink the kook aid

“Responding to the media , or playing to the media, or listening to the fans is the quickest way to start losing” – Sam Pollock

The four players you named had great playoffs for us.
Yes or no?
Thank you.
Now fer petessakes, turn CKAC off and go to bed, because like the drunken callers who weigh in at this hour, you’re distorting the big picture after the fact to showcase your own supposed insight into the game that the common man doesn’t possess.
We’re doin just fine, ok Jaybee?
ECF last year, one game away from trouncin the champs minus 3 of our key players this year. We’re doin just fine.
And some small thanks goes to Schneider, Moore, Wiz and Sopel for that.

Are you saying you would trade Eller for SK straight-up? Really? That would be flat out nuts. One has the potential to be an outstanding top 2 center and the other has probably already realized his NHL “peak”. I must be misreading your post.

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” There were giants on the earth in those days; and also after that (The Deluge), when the Sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.” Genesis 6:4

Keep drinking the PG Kool-Aid and the LAFFS will win a cup before our Habs do!( as utterly revolting that would be)

This management group lack imagination and is unwilling to take a chance unless its at the draft!

Alot of CYA and not much else!

… the fans of the Boston Bruins now have lost forever any right to complain that “the league” is out to get their team, and that the Montreal Canadiens have some kind of pull inside the NHL home office.

You and others rag on about the coaching and managing because you actually think you would do a better job. Some days, I wish the loudest critics would be GM for a week. Then I give my head a shake and am thankful for the pros we have at the wheel and not some Sunday driver.

The Penguins have to be working a contract for Kennedy. Besides being somewhat skilled he’s super scrapy for a little guy. there’s no way he walks for free if Darrol Powe is worth a third round pick is there?

The Canadians will be under the salary cap for 2011-2012.
No matter…fans will fill the rink….Management is a trail of errors on forming a the cup contending team despite the money that is coming in …..credit though that they are winners in taking in revenue…..Latendresse -Pouliot was a disaster as was losing Muller, Sergei, Halak, and it seems for nothing giving up on Wiz, Hamarlik,Dawes, Pouliot,Lapierre,Moore etc etc……This is a management that counts mostly dollar bottom line profit, esp hotdog sales and hopes to luck in by making the playoffs…..the team has no offensive depth and an injury prone defense…..surprise us all and get a big free agent?
Not with this management unless fans kick up a fuss…How is it that Tampa Bay can churn up an exciting team and spend money for star players with such a weak fan base? Mr.Molson, do you believe in a winning team or just winning money?

I believe he’ll put his ownership stamp on the team but it will happen gradually. But yes more than a few of us are itching for a return to French Canadian Firewagon Hockey and some f*ing STARS to entertain us. Forwards who can score and who won’t get their asses kicked.

… the fans of the Boston Bruins now have lost forever any right to complain that “the league” is out to get their team, and that the Montreal Canadiens have some kind of pull inside the NHL home office.

Strange, but I can’t help but feel like the best news of the day is the fact that Pyatt wasn’t qualified. Some tough love from the goat to jack I guess. Can’t help but feel mean about thinking that stuff… cause the guy seems like a good egg.

Martin gave him very little time on the PP. The 1st line he put him on was with Gomez, the black hole of centres. He did better with Desharnais – and I think he would have had 20 goals had he been with him all year. He never got time with Plekanek – THAT would have been the test.

That’s cause he didn’t earn it with consistent effort. Remember when we played the Wild? Had he played like that 3 out of 4 games he’d have received PP time and better line mates. Instead it was more like one out of 10 where his head was in it.

If Benny was given half of the long leash that Price was given, he’d be coming off of two 30 goal seasons, but be -20. I don’t get it, they’ve coddled, and protected Price, but Benny gets tough love??!?!?!!?

biggest mistake was the salary raise Pouliot got….it need not have gone to arbitration but the Habs management blew that part…it seems obvious that Pouliot has another problem but he is likelt to wind up in Tampa where a coach and GM with ability to deal with the personal issues will perhaps turn him into a star…at least it will be a cheaper risk…..

Remember our ex Tanguay…Calgary has got him to work and a long-term contract, when the Habs handlers made him look like he was done , after many star seasons…….
The Canadiens need a management overhaul as they cannot handle psychology with star talent…..some are still on the team…try Gomez, they may wreck a few others younger ones with great potential

Agree…Pouliot needs some serious stroking…he is a number one talent if he can get some personal affairs straight and he may very well do that at low financial risk….some team will wind up lucky for cheap..probably Tampa since they have a really bright bunch of managers and skillled hockey sense

Sorry, but he was one of my most hated Habs ever. Went to game with my Dad once, the one where Audette basically ended his career. Dagenaus was embarrassing to watch on the ice. He did nothing but stand around and wait for a shot. Disgusting really.

Pouliot I like(d). I saw moments where he looked like a great player. I was hoping for more.

The Blues might be planning to re-sign Dags anyway, and just didn’t bother with the Q.O. Pouliot wasn’t qualified last year, but PG re-signed him. Not a guarantee, but I’d wait a couple days before I made a big deal about Dags not getting an offer.

Crap. TSN forced to me watch at least one hour of reports on how Brunstrom and Hanson were solid additions to the Leafs system, they had size and skills, signing each was like having an additional high draft pick, blah blah blah.

Sorry to just jump in but here’s my two cents. How many folks would make this trade?

Cammy, Gomez and Spacho for Huberdeau, Matthias and Ellerby. We get younger and we have Huberdeau for the future. We gain cap space (addition by subtraction) and we can sign some cheap UFAs Stewart, Cole this year to round out the line up. Do you think Florida would be stupid enough to do this? We might not make the playoffs next year doing this but think of the strength down the middle in two or three years. Plus we’ve got that sweet back end! I’m ready to be chopped up! Go…
24 cups and counting….

ummm, i hate that trade, and definatly wouldn’t make it! ellerby is a depth defenceman who has under acheived, matthias is a depth forward who has zero offensive upside. huberdeau would be nice, but at the cost of cammy?(florida would never mortgage their future like that. tallon would have to be on crack) i agree we need to get rid of spacek and gomez tho. i just would hate to see us downgrade to the point where we are almost into a rebuilding phase!
ps. cole is too old to play montreals defensive two way system and struggled when he wasn’t on the same line as stall (see stint with oilers)

Random thought, I wonder if the NHLPA realizes that the 35+ contract stipulation is starting to have the opposite effect they intended. It was meant to protect older players from having their jobs stolen by younger ones in order to shed cap space, but in the end it’s going to force a lot of second tier older players to finish their careers in Europe or retire because those contracts are such a massive pain in the ass.

Canadiens invite Etienne Brodeur to training camp. I couldn’t find much on him online, except that he was the only 50 goals scorer in the LHJMQ this season. He finished with 53 G, 30 A in 68 games. For some of you, the kicker will be that he’s 5’9″, 180 lbs.

I remember when…… I believe it was Pat Burns coaching in Hull he had a line of Luc Robitaille,Benoit Brunet and Guy Rouleau. Guy Rouleau was the one with all the talent on that line but he was a little guy and never got drafted and never played in the NHL.We know what happened to the other two.Life is funny.

“Wanting is often more pleasurable than having.It is not logical but it is often true.” – Spock

After Pacioretty’s first season with the habs he went back to his old skating coach at the Athletic Republic in Chealsea’s Pier. That is where he learned to skate with a long, powerful stride; on their hockey treadmill. There are two of those types gyms around MTL now. One in the Pierrefond Arena and one in the Guimond Arena in Laval. check it out its really cool. http://www.athleticrepublicmtl.com

Maybe offensively a slight upgrade over Pyatt, but not as an overall package. Think of it this way, in two years he couldn’t crack the Leafs lineup. And his only NHL goals were both against Halak in one of the worst games he ever played.

No rational person can deny that the Bruins are a very talented team, especially at forward.

But no rational person can deny that the Bruins use bullying tactics, cowardly crap after the whistle and dirty play to get an edge. I don’t blame them, they got away with it so much that it’s a miracle that they haven’t won a couple up to this point.

Reality states that teams will be spending on July 1st – they always do and they usually overpay during the first few days. There’s not a ton out there, so you just know that some teams are going to screw up – especially on term. For those who aren’t sure, consider this. Calgary dumped salary because they are up against the cap. Not to mention that they have a six-pack of over paid slugs who are holding back the team from going forward. What do they do? They trade Regehr as part of a salary dump. A move which enables them to re-sign Tanguay for five frackin’ years. Indirectly, they traded Regehr for Tanguay even though they were both on the same team! Go figure.

So what about all the guys who were cut today? They may be moved out for younger kids, or they might be facing the harsh reality that they will have to sign (or re-sign) in August for chump change.

I think Pyatt will make a buck at the game somewhere, but Pouliot better start growing chickens or eggs on a farm some place
White is and will always be a hard worker at both ends of the rink. He may not score a lot of goals, but both teams will know when he is on the ice.

Picard might get on the ice with a team as their 7th D somewhere, or its back to the AHL.

When will Gorges sign for 3 years???

Kirk Mullur needs 2 successful years in Milwaukee before he will be NHL (or MTL. ready.)

And J. Martin is on his own now. This will be his make it or break it year.!

I like the thought of getting a bit bigger too, but let’s look in the mirror first. Isn’t part of the reason we hate the Bruins and Flyers so much the fact that they are, always have been, and always will be goon teams? Is that the direction we really want to move?

It burns me that the Bruins gooned their way to a cup. Pushing people around after plays and hacking backs of legs is what hockey used to be. I, for one, don’t want to go back there.

I’d rather pick up some bigger guys that can’t be intimidated, not bigger guys who can fight.

They aren’t “goon teams”, their good teams. One is a championship team. If they were the Habs, I’m sure you would call them tough, great teams, instead of “goon teams”.

The direction you want to move towards, is a team that can handle 4 rounds of tough hockey. Big, tough, mean and skilled. The Bruins didn’t goon their way to anything. They just plain beat the other teams from goaltending on out. Don’t listen to gainey when he says size doean’t matter in the playoffs. he’s stuck in the ’70’s

Given Pouliot’s salary last year which was 1.35M plus to qulaify a guy a think you need to offer a 10% raise ( isn’t that right?). It is possible that the Habs could let him go to FA on Fri. then offer him deal at say 700K or so. I don’t think other teams will be beating down his door so it is a possibility.

Steve, there are a lot of players in the NHL as good as Marchand, no reason to entertain the thought of acquiring him personally. Of course the end game is winning, but there’s something to be said for standards. The Bruins won the cup this year but I wouldn’t trade our team for theirs in a million years.

That just proves my point. We are the almighty Habs, the Holy Grail of hockey. Not. Ancient history, to be sure. A roadblock we need to get around.

Don’t get me wrong, I love our past and I’m grateful to have been able to witness most of it first hand. But our team hasn’t done much since ’93. There’s been just two years to brag about. A few years ago we won the conference only to fall flat on our faces in the playoffs. Then last year, after stumbling into the playoffs, we pulled off a trip to the final four. Full value there, to be sure. However, nobody breaks par by only playing 2 out of 18 holes.

Edit: There was the Carolina series. Lots of ‘what ifs’ there with the Koivu injury.

I’m on board for the next few years as we try and win with the 2nd Gainey rebuild. But I’m also watching the clock for when the train may pull into the station.

What I’m saying has nothing to do with Habs history, and everything to do with Habs present. I think in all walks of life, be it business, sports or entertainment, whatever, you have to have standards. Getting to the finish line is always excellent, but it would cheapen it to do it with a team you hate. Am I asking for too much to want to see a winner without a Marchand type? Perhaps. But I have high standards. I don’t think we’re as far away as the common narrative pretends on this site. Last season we were a better team than the Bruins when healthy, and we came within a bounce of knocking them out despite them getting almost all the bounces.

We don’t have a team that dominates the regular season over 82 games, but we have one that brings it when it counts. Unfortunately last season, all the wrong people were injured at the wrong time, doubt it happens again.

The glory days were glorious. There hasn’t been any (glory) since 1979. 1993 wasn’t a bad team by the yardstick of early ’90’s NHL parity but that and ’86 especially were down to Roy’s larceny. Without his ridiculous miracles ’79 would have been the last cup.

Other than Patrick name one superstar who’s been a Canadien since the last golden era.

Bad mouthing the great Canadiens teams, the dynasties is bizarre. You should be bad mouthing Savard and Boudrias, Grundman and all the mediocre under achievers in the front office (and on the ice) since.

Agree with the Grundman fiasco …When they snubbed Bowman and chose Grundman…that was the beginning of the end for the Habs winning cups with any regularity ! Hiring Grundman was the biggest mistake that ownership group made in the history of the Habs, they have never been the same organization since. We are now experiencing the second biggest mistake in the modern era of the Habs….Hiring Gauthier and JM to manage this team to a Stanley Cup…dream on, the fact is, that in their history together they have not won anything to give me and some other Habs fans any reason to think that a championship is on the horizon in the near future. Their paper trail of failure is there for all to see. In my opinion, it’s the system much more than the players that are holding this particular team up from giving us the “firewagon” style of hockey I grew up watching, which included a strong mix of toughness that allowed our star players to do their thing…score goals and win Stanley’s !! Fred Shero said it himself, that the Canadiens were the toughest team as well as the most talented team, and that’s why they rolled over the Flyers when they were known as the Broad street Bullies. Gauthier and JM have not figured this out yet and until they do, we don’t win !! I am only a fan from that era and although the game has changed in other ways, one common denominator remains…a winning team still needs toughness to win Championships….but wtf do I know…

So we probably shouldn’t expect anything exciting to happen on here between now and free agency on Friday.
And please don’t anyone say we may sign the Wiz by then so he doesn’t test the market, cuz that’s not gonna happen.

“That beautiful bastard scored semi-conscious.” On the Rocket’s Game 7 game winning goal against the Bruin’s April, 1952

Listen to these three pieces of advice from someone who has never played professional sports (in other words, I am probably full of it).

1. Dedicate this summer to a rigorous strength/endurance training program.
2. Practice skating, I mean really learn how to skate, fast and strong (ask Pacioretty about a program to follow).
3. Pick up a Kovalev DVD. You have hands plus a good shot (and hair).

I have no idea what type of player/person he is, nor do I know what he can do to help his career. I think he has some genuine talent, but I am not sure if he knows how to use them.

2. After Pacioretty’s first season with the habs he went back to his old skating coach at the Athletic Republic in Chealsea’s Pier. That is where he learned to skate with a long, powerful stride; on their hockey treadmill. There are two of those types gyms around MTL now. One in the Pierrefond Arena and one in the Guimond Arena in Laval. check it out its really cool. http://www.athleticrepublicmtl.com

Don’t be so sure. The Iles are slowly heading in the right direction with their high draft picks recently. Also it is a NY based team, where Gomez has played most of his career. He also only can choose 3 teams he doesn’t want to go to, if I heard correctly. I think there would be 3 teams ahead of the Iles on Gomez’s no trade list.

Hobie Hanson is thinking along the same lines as me. I am not complaining about not signing Pouliot, Pyatt, and hopefully not Halpern. And who cares about getting a 7th round draft pcck or not.
Hopefully Gauth is thinking of Stewart for the 3rd line and Rupp and Konepka for the 4th line. Now that lineup would look alot better going into Boston with. I wish Pyatt, Pouliot and Halpern all the best and thank them for their work here, but we need bigger energy players for the bottom 6.

What bugs me is that OUR cast-offs go on to become useful players while we pick up all these headcases and plunkers and we’re told these are clever pick-ups and blah blah blah. The next year, they’re discarded and then we get more fresh headcases and almost-NHLers and we’re told these are great pick-ups too.

Meanwhile, Martin doesn’t get the best out of most of his younger players (Subban would thrive under anyone) and we send guys like S Kost and Lats who CAN and will score lots of goals away for nothing. We’ve lost Boucher and now Muller. The Habs have to stick with the Martin plan for better or worse but for my money if they didn’t luck out with Price and Subban, we’d be battling Edmonton and the Islanders for bottom-feed status.

I hope Pouliot is picked up by Tampa and turned into a 25-goal scorer on the 3rd line.

Gms and coaches are as patient as their won/loss record. If the team is winning and a player is working through things and improving, no problem. However, if that team is losing, a top 6 player that isn’t producing would be dropped like a hot potato.

That’s BS. If it’ll make you happy: signing Pleks was smart and I said it at the time. Signing the Whiz was smart, though looks like he’s a goner, like so many of our draft-for-player trades. Lots of smart things but you know what? At this level, it’s how many mistakes you make that loses you games – and championships. And there are too many mistakes. Habs trade away too many players who become important on other teams, and too many draft picks for guys they don’t keep. Habs must be doing SOME things right to do as well as we do with such poor asset management in other areas.

So kudos for the good (if that gives you a warm and fuzzy) but let’s be honest about a lot of mistakes – which I lay at the feet of PG and JM together.

LaSlowesse is a dog. He has so very few skills. If AK46 had been given half the breaks from the coaches that LaUseless received, he might be a mega-superstar by now. The big slow one with zero shot who doesn’t hit – he’s brutal.

And I’m glad we got rid of him. He’s one of those guys you can only like if he’s on your team. If he’s on another team, you loathe him. I’m thinking Marchand here too; as great as he was in the playoffs, I’d hate to see him in a Habs uni.

Steve, there are a lot of players in the NHL as good as Marchand, no reason to entertain the thought of acquiring him personally. Of course the end game is winning, but there’s something to be said for standards. The Bruins won the cup this year but I wouldn’t trade our team for theirs in a million years.

“Players who earned less than $660,000 in the previous season must be offered 110 percent of last season’s salary. Players making up to $1 million must be offered 105 percent. Players making over $1 million must be offered 100 percent.”

So we would have had to offer Pouliot $1,350,000, Picard $660,000, and Pyatt $550,000 to retain their rights.

Personally, I’d take Picard and Pyatt at that price, they were both hardworking solid players, and even with a 10% raise they’re both still pretty cheap. But on the other hand – as much as we all love the grinders on our team, the truth is guys like them are a dime a dozen and we’ll be able to pick up a Pyatt or Picard (possibly even Pyatt and Picard themselves) at the last minute right before the season starts if we need them – as indeed we did with Picard last year.

As for Pouliot – all the talent in the world, but very little production out of it. I definitely agree with saving the $1.35 million we would have had to offer him for someone else. If we only had to pay him Pyatt money, sure, offer it to him just on the off chance he finally puts it all together. But at that price? No thanks.

Bottom line – Gauthier knows what he’s doing. He’s not perfect, he’ll make mistakes just like any of us do in our jobs, but he’s damn good. I trust his decisions.

Sometimes it’s the old cliche of addition by subtraction. If you qualify Pouliot at $1.35, there’s a good chance you can’t move him. And then you’re stuck with his salary against your cap. By freeing up that 1.35, that’s a bit more you can spend on a more useful player. Or save it for later/next year.

For the inevitable freakout over Pouliot, everyone needs to remember that he wasn’t qualified last year either. All it means with him not being qualified is that they don’t want to give him his mandatory RFA raise.

That said, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see them walk away from Pouliot. He hasn’t shown much when it counts, and when he’s not scoring he’s a detriment to the team.

Absolutely beautiful news about Pouliot and Pyatt not being resigned! Yes there’s a slim chance Pouliot could go on and score 20 goals somewhere and we’ll have a bunch of idots say; I told you so!!!

Like I said, that’s a slim chance and I knew when Montreal signed Darche and the Desharnais that Pouliot was done.

If I would have seen Tom Pyatt on the ice this year I would have been in disgust. If all he can bring to the table is a mistake free shift, c’mon man, let’s be serious. There’s much better out there including big boys who contribute more than Pyatt does and that actually throw some hits and drop their mitts.

Pouliot was brought in to maybe get a spark lit under his ass and score some goals but overall he failed to do that. See ya later!

Pyatt is a 4th line player with no size or toughness. Beat it pal.

Now for part two, instead of having guys like Halpern, Pyatt, Pouliot on the 4th line why don’t you please bring in a Rupp, Konopka or someone who can tangle with the big boys of the league. Enough of our 4th lines consisting of softies who don’t lay a finger on anyone!

Another top nine forward and another big boy to play between Moen and White on the forth line and we’re golden at the forward position.

Defence is another story but I think Gauthier knows what he’s doing as he’s shown so far…

Let’s point out that White, Gorges, and Weber aren’t signed yet… they’ve merely been given qualifying offers. But I don’t see any of those guys holding out, so it is reasonable to assume they’ll all be signed by the start of training camp.

But that said… I aready like that team! And I would assume we’ll still have around $10 million of cap room left after all 3 are signed (about $3 million/year seems like a reasonable upper limit for Gorges, no?). Say an average cap hit of $700,000/per for the backup goalie, depth forward, and depth defenceman we need… that leaves us almost 8 million for that top 6 forward.

Too bad there aren’t any true top 6 forwards on the free agent market – except Brad Richards, who I feel is out of our league somehow. But via trade, we can maybe swing something now. All in all, I’m feeling positive about the way this roster is coming together.

Benoit Pouliot is like that girl at the bar that is drool-provokingly hot. You somehow end up dancing with her at last call and you don’t seal the deal but you get her number and you’re stoked, and then a couple days later you call her and talk to her when you’re sober and she seems kind of flighty but you remember the yellow dress so you still meet with her later, and things don’t quite go well but now you’re in it so you’ve got to see it through and on the next date she meets you after work and you pick her up and her mascara is kind of goopy and smudged and she wants you to drive her and her friend to this bar she likes and you’re sitting on the patio and spending all your time checking other girls walking by who look like they have their act together and eight margaritas later you have to drive her back to her car and you get there and notice it’s dirty and the registration is expired and she goes in “just to get her wallet” and the interior is full of garbage and dog hair and stained upholstery and now she’s insisting she’s okay to drive home, and you’re telling her no you should take her home and she says okay but first I have to call my friend and she’s sitting in the car talking way too loud with the door open and you’re standing there in the middle of the street with the door open and people are looking at you and finally you get her attention and you get her to hang up and she’s wondering what she’s going to do with her car parked there, and you could maybe get a buddy to come by and drive it home for her but you decide to stay quiet and you guide her to your car and she gets in and now you’re driving her home and all you think about is you hope you can get her there before she throws up in your swish ride and you notice that some of the dog hair is now on the passenger seat and the door, and as you finally get close to her place she says maybe we should go to a pub nearby and you say you can’t you have to work early the next day even though it’s Friday and then you get her home and the place looks kind of dingy and she has this weird roommate or somebody looking at you from the front balcony so you get her on the sidewalk and kind of point her to her walkway and she asks in a bit of an offended tone aren’t you going to come in, but you insist you have an early day tomorrow and she kind of stalks off and she’s swearing at you under her breath but you’re already back at your car and as you drive off you realize you didn’t make another date and you’re free and clear and don’t owe her anything and you feel pretty good about that all of a sudden.

The next weekend you’re at the bar again and you see her and she’s wearing nice jeans and a white tank top and her hair is loose on her shoulders and she’s been tanning you can tell, and your buddy points her out and you tell him: “Dude, you have no idea.”

I have no problem with these (non) moves at all.
I did admire the heart of Pyatt (and to a lesser extent Picard), but the talent level just isn’t there with these 2. And with Pouliot, while the talent may be there, the heart certainly isn’t.
Here’s hoping that their replacements are an upgrade in skill.

__________________________
Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.

With respect to Pouliot, how could anyone slip on a Habs jersey 82 times and not play out of their mind hockey? How could you go out there and go thru the motions as some of these guys do? Lats84, Benny57, and others…..my goodness, I’d give my left nut to sit on the bench!!

Bring in some jacked up 3rd and 4th liners who want to play and dump the pretenders like Pouliot. GM Gauthier knows what he’s doing and this team is a few years away. Won’t be long!

I think when the player feels he doesnt have the confidence of the coach, it affects his play and makes all the difference. Feeling like your next mistake will put you in the doghouse can be paralyzing.

[Disclaimer]: I’m a hockey fan. I care about the habs, but probably not as much as you.

The current team must extend a “qualifying offer” to a restricted free agent to retain negotiating rights to that player.

Players who earned less than $660,000 in the previous season must be offered 110 percent of last season’s salary. Players making up to $1 million must be offered 105 percent. Players making over $1 million must be offered 100 percent.

If the qualifying offer is not made, the player becomes an unrestricted free agent.

If the player rejects a qualifying offer, he remains a restricted free agent.

If the player does not sign before December 1st, he is ineligible to play in the NHL for the remainder of the season.

I would like to see when these guys get picked up, what they go for and to whom. I am willing to bet ALL of them get same money or less than they were last season.
Who is going to give up draft picks for scrubs when they can wait to see who isnt qualified by today????
Just look at the players who haven’t been qualified. Then come back and tell me we should have signed Pouliot for 1.35 million just to trade him for a 7th rounder, JUST so we can say we got something for him. WASTE OF TIME, and just messes with a players career. If we don’t have a plan for them, LET THEM GO. They are players and people, not commodities and playing cards.

Why aren’t 29 other teams qualifying EVERYONE and trading them in a week for pucks???
I mean Florida gives a 7th rounder for Kopecky who is a UFA and at 1.2 million with more than 40 points. WHAT ARE WE GONNA GET FOR PICARD????????

Nobody’s going to take him for 1.35M anyway. That’s why PG let him go. I’m still surprised about Pyatt and Picard though, since both were decent depth guys. But like you said, they’re people, not commodities. Speaks volumes about an organization that will let guys pursue their careers elsewhere cuz there’s not much of a future if they stick around here.

Do you honestly believe that PG did not try to move all these guys? As a no-strings attached pick up, they are worth a tryout, but only if you have the room. They are all missing key ingredients to becoming regulars.

At first I was a little excited about the prospect of Jagr, except now I just don’t think it’s going to happen. You never know I guess. But I would simply love the idea of having Ryan White, Moen, and Anthony Stewart in the line-up at the same time. Throw in Patches and suddenly were more than small and fast.
I say we start a petition, and send it to PG, anyone have his email address??
Sign Anthony Stewart, July 1st. Do it!!!
I realise he may not be the answer for the top six, but he is faster than Moen, and has much better hands.

I’m not saying I have all the answers. But name me a business, any business, that turns a potential asset into NOTHING and stays in business. Can you? No, you can’t.

Our management and coaching are to blame at least 50% for not developing Pouliot and Latendress and S. Kostitsyn into top players, they all have diaper loads of skill, that’s without question either.

One or two guys, yeah, ok, they’re head cases, but the number of talented kids we have come through Habs that sputter… that’s coaching, buddy. That’s JM, who if we never scored again would finally be happy. And what scoring Free Agent is going to come here if he thinks JM is going to turn him into a 4th line grinder?